Drinking Through the Decades – A Cocktail-Infused Series
Tuesday, March 6, 2018

This event has passed.

Drinking Through the Decades – A Cocktail-Infused Series

Date: March 6

Time:
7:00 pm TO 8:00 pm

Price: $30.00

Location: Stuart Community Room

THIS EVENT HAS REACHED CAPACITY AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCEPT WALK-INS. PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE NEXT CLASS ON APRIL 3rd!

*Must be 21 years – Samples will be given!

Sign up for one class-$30
Sign up for all 6 classes-$160

Join us and our friend Sonja Kassebaum, one of the founders of North Shore Distillery (and an avid cocktail nerd), for a spirited discussion of the history of cocktails over the last 150 years. Each month, we’ll explore, discuss and sample what people were drinking during a specific period of time, starting with the birth of the cocktail in the mid 1800’s. We’ll incorporate some local history along the way where we can find it. Also, there are some interesting stories in the history of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff related to cocktails, spirits and Prohibition.

Did you know that the cocktail is a distinctly American invention, and that many of the tools, techniques and methods used by bartenders today were developed by American barmen in the mid to late 1800’s and beyond? Learn more about these inventors, and the drinks they popularized throughout history.

There will be 6 classes in this series, sign up for one or all six!

Class #1, March 6, 2018: Jerry Thomas and the First Cocktail Book – 1850s-1880s
We’ll talk about Jerry Thomas, who wrote the very first cocktail book ever published, and some of the classic cocktails he wrote about.

Class #2, April 3, 2018: The Golden Age of Cocktails – 1890s to 1920
We’ll make, taste and discuss some of the amazing cocktails developed during the late 1800s and early 1900s, when classic cocktails had their first heyday. We’ll talk about some of the famous celebrity bartenders of the time and their creations, many of which are enjoying a renaissance in our current culture.

Class #3, May 1, 2018 – Prohibition and its Aftermath – 1920s – 1940s
We’ll talk about what people were drinking during the Roaring 20s, and what they drank during the Great Depression, both here in the US and abroad, where drinking was still legal. We’ll also discuss the birth of the Moscow Mule, one of the most popular drinks today, which was invented in the 1930s.

Class #4, June 5, 2018 – The Mad Men Era and the Dark Days of Cocktails – the 1950s through the 1970s
After World War II, as the US and the world returned to prosperity, certain cocktails again became part of our culture, and some new ones were created. And cocktail culture took a turn for the worse in many people’s eyes, when we favored sweet, dessert-style drinks and colorful, chemically altered drinks.

Class #5, July 10, 2018 – The Cosmopolitan, and the Rebirth of the Cocktail Trend – 1980s through 2000s
In the 1980s, a little drink called the Cosmopolitan was invented. Meanwhile, some inventive bartenders were running programs in New York and certain other places that evoked the cocktail bars of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and a trend was begun. We’ll talk about some of these legends, some of the drinks they created, and sample a few of them along the way.

Class #6, August 7, 2018 – Current Cocktail Culture, circa 2018
In our final class, we’ll celebrate all that is available in today’s cocktail culture, and make/taste some new creations that deserve a place in the cocktail cannons. We’ll discuss some of the great bartenders working today and promoting their craft, as well as some of the current trends visible in cocktails and bars in the US.

Gorton Community Center will take and may use photos and videos from this event for its promotional purposes. Your attendance indicates your consent to the above.